After arriving in Weinan, Su Baiyue immediately felt that her quality of life had drastically declined. Firstly, it was evident in the food. Weinan was small and somewhat remote, naturally it couldn’t compare with the imperial city where everything was available. Moreover, Weinan’s economic lifeline was cut off by the neighboring Xingyuan, coupled with the bandit problems, it was truly a mess.

Although Su Baiyue didn’t eat much on a daily basis, she was after all a connoisseur of good food. Especially after shedding that layer of aloofness that shunned worldly pleasures in front of Lu Gan, Su Baiyue had transitioned from being nervous at first to indulging in her culinary desires without any burden under Lu Gan’s watchful eyes every day. Looking back, it was truly a saga of striving for food.

Next, what Su Baiyue found hard to adjust to was the severe decline in the quality of entertainment activities. The constant innovations in the imperial city always kept one entertained and never bored. However, in Weinan, even the currently popular pastimes were just leftovers from the imperial city, utterly lacking in appeal.

Su Baiyue couldn’t help but express the sentiment that it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to return. This led her to just stay cooped up at home daily without any desire to go out.

However, thankfully, Su Baiyue was now well-fed. Despite her constant verbal disparagements towards Lu Gan, she eagerly awaited the food he brought every day.

Deer meat, lamb, tiger meat, pheasants, rabbits, wild mushrooms… Organic vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes creatively made their way onto her dining table every day. Not to mention those delicately crafted pastries, which hardly seemed like the creations of a man.

Pinching her soon-to-be double chin, Su Baiyue thought that with Lu Gan’s cooking skills, he could definitely be a five-star chef in modern times. Nowadays, seeing Lu Gan coming with a red lacquer food box made her eyes shine like stars, almost wishing to worship him like a deity.

If the male lead didn’t dominate the world, he could certainly make a name for himself as a chef in the future!

As Su Baiyue enjoyed a sweet and sour yam and jujube mud cake, she blissfully lay on her bed, feeling content to live a life of indolence.

“Mistress, the new emperor has ascended to the throne and decrees a celebration across the land. An envoy has come to invite our Weinan Duke’s residence to the capital for a feast,” Jing Wen announced as she entered, only to find her mistress sprawled lazily on the bed.

Although her pose was ungraceful, thanks to her always serene and noble demeanor, Su Baiyue still looked enchantingly beautiful even in such a state.

Jing Wen looked at Su Baiyue’s increasingly nourished face with a maternal smile of relief.

Previously, their lady hardly ate anything until she married their young master, and started to consume grains and cereals, not only improving her spirit but also enhancing her graceful figure. It seems, after all, that such a man as their young master was needed to handle their lady.

While Jing Wen sighed inwardly, Su Baiyue shifted and rolled over, feeling utterly content.

She had been corrupted by feudal decadence to the point of losing her soul. Why bother with missions? Wouldn’t it be nicer to live as a happy, indulgent sloth for the rest of her life?

Jing Wen stepped on white silk, came forward and took away the empty porcelain plate that had been licked clean.

Catching Jing Wen’s action, Su Baiyue huffed, “That Lu Gan is really greedy, to be able to stomach such sugary stuff.”

Jing Wen covered her mouth and giggled, suddenly finding her mistress quite adorable. Perhaps this was the legendary tsundere?

Lu Gan happened to walk in at that moment, hearing Su Baiyue’s comment. His expression remained unchanged. He merely removed his snowy cloak and went over to the washstand to cleanse his hands and face.

Hiding under her blanket, Su Baiyue peeked out at him.

For the past six months, Lu Gan, along with King of Weinan and Liu Chen, had been resolving the bandit problems and the cinnabar mine issues in Weinan. The bandit issue was quickly resolved, but the cinnabar mine issue was persistently unresolved.

Since the former Princess of Xingyuan rose to power as the new queen, Xingyuan had grown increasingly prominent, nearly surpassing the royal family itself. The saying goes: a tall tree catches the wind. Xingyuan was bound to face troubles sooner or later.

And when Xingyuan faced its chaos, it would be Lu Gan’s moment to shine.

However, the current male lead was obsessed with “cooking and soup making,” which was a distraction from his ambitions. How could she motivate him to conquer the world?

Su Baiyue recalled what she said to Lu Gan before leaving the capital. She had told him she wanted the world. He neither agreed nor disagreed, which now seemed to indicate a refusal.

If that was a refusal, then her position in his heart was utterly negligible. He must have married her only to avenge past humiliations.

With this thought, Su Baiyue felt oddly relieved. If that was the case, she should firmly continue to trample on the male lead’s path, possibly spurring him into becoming an emperor like Qin Shi Huang.

While Su Baiyue was merrily contemplating this, Lu Gan had already finished his preparations.

He always preferred not to be waited upon, so Jing Wen bowed out, leaving Su Baiyue and Lu Gan alone.

In the half-year since then, there hadn’t been any substantial developments between Lu Gan and Su Baiyue, apart from him occasionally forcing a kiss or holding hands. Su Baiyue would then show her fidelity by scratching his face with cat-like marks.

Well aware of Lu Gan’s prowess from reading novels, Su Baiyue was both scared and reluctant to give up his culinary skills, resulting in a mix of fear and enjoyment.

After being frightened for half a year, she finally felt slightly bolder, thinking that Lu Gan might really only be out for revenge. After all, if it were true love, wouldn’t he constantly scheme to bed her? But Lu Gan showed no signs of such expectations.

This confirmed Su Baiyue’s suspicions even more, and she became increasingly bold.

The saying goes: the bolder one is, the richer the rewards. Although Su Baiyue hadn’t completely let go, living under the same roof, just by observing her behavior today in front of Jing Wen and Lu Gan, it was clear that her character as an idler was becoming deeply ingrained.

Lu Gan walked over to her, tilted his head to look at her for a while, then casually sat down on the bed.

Although Su Baiyue initially strongly opposed Lu Gan touching anything in her personal space, resistance only leads to more resistance. Moreover, now Lu Gan had more sway in the Duke of Weinan’s residence than she did—her own father, the Duke, and her stupid brother probably even forgot that she was their blood relative, given how well Lu Gan was treated.

Su Baiyue still tried to intimidate her enemy with fierce eyes.

Suddenly, Lu Gan pinched Su Baiyue’s cheek.

Su Baiyue instantly widened her eyes.

Her face was not made of dough!

“You’ve gotten plumper,” Lu Gan commented, his touch cool as he brought in the chilly air from outside, like ice chips on Su Baiyue’s skin. Yet, this robust man had a sweet, pastry-like scent, which made Su Baiyue always sneak peeks into his large sleeve pockets.

His pockets were like Doraemon’s magical pockets, always producing some quirky stuff to amuse Su Baiyue.

Given their different stances, of course, Su Baiyue couldn’t afford to show any weakness to the enemy. Moreover, what woman doesn’t take offense at being called fat?

Taking a deep breath, Su Baiyue forcefully grabbed a pillow from behind her and smashed it onto Lu Gan’s face.

The soft pillow, carrying the cool fragrance of the woman, had no force behind it.

Lu Gan suddenly grabbed Su Baiyue by the shoulders and pressed her back into the bedding.

Stunned, Su Baiyue’s head swam before she could react, and she could only instinctively stare wide-eyed at Lu Gan in front of her.

The atmosphere suddenly shifted, and the air around them, along with the sweet pastry scent, thickened, sticking to Su Baiyue, firmly controlled by Lu Gan.

Having been passively accepting of Lu Gan’s hooliganism for half a year, this instance overwhelmed her.

If you’re going to kiss, just kiss! Are you trying to suck out my soul?

Overwhelmed and unable to even breathe properly, Su Baiyue kicked and finally managed to push him away.

Both panting heavily, Lu Gan’s hand remained on Su Baiyue’s shoulder. He licked his lips, his dark eyes suddenly gleaming, as if he had tasted candy.

Clearly, Su Baiyue was that candy.

Seeing the rippling expression on the man’s face, Su Baiyue was struck with a shocking thought.

He’s fattening me up for consumption!

Feeling herself the tender beloved pressed into his embrace, Lu Gan suddenly nudged his head.

Weakened by the kiss, Su Baiyue could only flutter her eyelids, letting the man continue his mischief.

Lu Gan nudged again.

Out of patience, Su Baiyue irritably asked, “What, what are you doing?”

Without a word, the man placed Su Baiyue’s hand on his head. Realizing what he wanted, Su Baiyue suddenly felt amused. She pushed Lu Gan away, sat up cross-legged, and, lifting her delicate arms out of her wide sleeves, she messed up Lu Gan’s neatly combed hair into a bird’s nest.

Such a well-behaved dog, if only it didn’t bite.

Su Baiyue pouted, feeling the sting on her tongue where she had bitten it.

After messing with his hair for a while, Lu Gan suddenly rolled over, pulling a piece of paper from under the pillow. His face, previously quite pleasant, suddenly looked as if it had been slapped with black paint.

Su Baiyue glanced at it and her face changed too. It was a love letter from the new Emperor to her, sent along with those trinkets from the imperial city. The letter was full of poetic expressions of affection. Unless Lu Gan was a fool, he wouldn’t miss the meaning.

Lu Gan suddenly stood, pinching the paper, and turned to leave the room without expression.

Su Baiyue was accustomed to such scenarios, but seeing his demeanor today, she inexplicably felt that this dog was pitiful. Saddled with a “flirtatious” woman like her, he was bound to be utterly disgraced.

Su Baiyue didn’t take it to heart, had her dinner, and went to bed peacefully.

However, she slept so soundly that when she awoke, she felt the rough jostling beneath her. She struggled to open her eyes, only to see a swath of brocade fabric, intermittently revealing the snowy and windy skies outside, the cold seeping into the carriage.

Startled into full alertness, Su Baiyue realized where she was.

A carriage? Wasn’t she sleeping indoors? How did she end up in a carriage all of a sudden? Could it be a dream?

Pinching her face hard, she shivered with pain, confirming she wasn’t dreaming. Someone had indeed taken her out while she was asleep!

Su Baiyue opened the curtain to glance outside. The coachman was bundled up tightly, his physique suggesting a trained body.

“Who are you? Where are you taking me?” Su Baiyue demanded, her face cold, her nose reddened by the freezing wind outside, her voice scattered by the wind.

“Mistress, rest assured, I am under orders. Once you enter the palace, you’ll enjoy endless wealth and honor,” the man replied.

Su Baiyue understood; the newly enthroned Emperor couldn’t wait, and despite her status as a married woman, he intended to indulge in the thrill of immorality with her.